All existing x-ray powder cameras or x-ray diffractometers use x-ray sensitive photographic film or a single detector (e.g., a scintillation crystal with an associated photomultiplier tube) as the detection media. Film has the advantage that the whole pattern can be obtained at one time. The single detectors have the advantage of having much greater sensitivity that the photographic film inasmuch as they, in essence, detect all x-ray photons. Single detectors have the disadvantage, however, that because of their limited area of vision, they must scan the pattern in 20. As a result, the measurement with single detectors of powder patterns for small samples can take extremely long times (on the order of 24 hours for a 10.mu.m sample). It would, accordingly, be desirable to have an improved detector for measuring radiation diffracted from a particular sample under analysis, particularly from a powdered sample.